


My Story, Our Story

by ItsaMePatches



Category: VeggieTales
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, M/M, Slow To Update
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-24
Updated: 2020-10-22
Packaged: 2020-10-27 13:48:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20761358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ItsaMePatches/pseuds/ItsaMePatches
Summary: Without hesitation, Bob blurted out, "B--but do you have any ideas? I hardly hear from you in the drawing room…"Nezzer blinked, turning his head towards Bob. "Me? Let me see."Bob watched Nezzer go quiet for a moment. His purple eyes focused to the table, narrowing. Now while Nezzer had given a hand in quite a few episodes, Bob came to the realization that the massive fellow beside him never completely "took the reigns" over an episode.Maybe...this could be his first!This would, indeed, be Nezzer's turn to shine, but along with that, a few more events would take place for him...and for Lunt.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Two things: My writing is very rusty, and that title is a little corny. I apologize for both of those things 🎉

* * *

Mister Nebby K Nezzer awoke that grey, Autumn morning with a yawn and a stretch. He sat up in bed and retrieved his mobile phone off the dresser to check the time.

“Eight-fifteen, huh…? I guess I could get up now.”

He hopped out of bed and then proceeded to fix it. Once the bed was straightened, the zucchini grabbed some clothes from the closet, left the room, and then poked his head into the room beside his. His heart nearly melted at the sight of his bunnies still asleep.

Oh, how he loved them, all seven balls of fur.

Looking at them resting...sort of made him feel like returning to sleep for a little while; however, Nezzer decided not to fall for the temptation. After all, he had someplace to be.

And so, with a gentle smile, he sweetly said above a whisper, “Hope you're all having pleasant dreams…”

It was time to get dressed.

The espresso machine continued to make its typical brewing sounds in the kitchen as Nezzer approached another room. He could hear faint snoring from behind the door, something which didn't surprise Nezzer at all.

“Not surprised at all.”

I just said _ that_.

Nudging at the door, he poked his head in. There was his housemate of many years still asleep in his king sized bed, snoring away.

A chuckle escaped him.

Nezzer hopped to the bed and then slowly removed the sheet from the gourd's form. Seconds after he had done that, there was a snort, an annoyed groan, and then meeting face to face with Lunt.

Lunt slurred out with a frown, “What's up with wakin’ me up so early, man…?”

“We're meetin’ up with the crew for new episode pitches. Remember?”

Lunt puffed a sigh as he sat up. “I oughta give Bob a suggestion that we should have these at a more reasonable time.”

Again, Nezzer couldn't help but chuckle, his chest shaking. “Would a nice big mug of espresso help ya get through this?”

“...make that two, _ then _ I'll be good.”

“Two it _ is_, then!”

  


And so the boss and his right-hand man (as they were known as by everybody) chilled out at the dining room table with omelettes and an espresso (or _ two _ in Lunt's case).

The news began its morning run on the living room television while Lunt took a brief glance out the window beside him.

_ [ "And I'm sorry to say, but these little grey skies are gonna get bigger and eventually produce a _ lot _ of rain. For the areas circled in red, don't be surprised if you guys have severe thunderstorms later on in the day." ] _

“Supposed to rain today or somethin’?”

Nezzer lifted the mug to his lips. “Seems like it,” he responded, and then he sipped the drink.

“...shoot.”

That utter of Lunt's caught Nezzer's attention. “What's wrong?”

“Today's a _ pumpkin spice _ kind of day, and yet here we are drinkin’ espresso,” he huffed, frowning ever so slightly.

Nezzer might, or might not have, rolled his eyes; however, he conjured an idea. “We could always have some after the get together if it doesn't last long.”

“...at a cafe?”

“At a cafe.”

"Man, you are _ spoilin' _ me today," he couldn't help but say with a small, cat-like grin. But then he suddenly asked without hesitation, "What's the catch?"

Nezzer blinked. "There _ isn't _ one. It's just that I wouldn't mind having pumpkin spice drinks later on like you!"

"Uh-_ huh_."

"Boy…"

The gourd let out a tiny giggle at the pout he was getting. "I'm kiddin', I'm kiddin'! I know ya love me!"

Nezzer scoffed at that last sentence, taking a sip of his espresso. '_I love you _alright,' he thought, but he couldn't help thinking how cute that seemed.

He chuckled to himself, his chest rumbling yet again.

* * *

When Nezzer stepped outside while Lunt shut and locked the door behind them, he took in that crisp air through his nostrils then released it, sighing.

"Smells wonderful today," the large zucchini said with a smile.

"I don't know about you," Lunt spoke up while he stuffed the keys in his leather jacket, "but this makes me wanna go anywhere _ but _ to work."

Nezzer gave him a look which consisted of a quirked brow and his lips forming a slanted line. "To be fair, sometimes it doesn't feel like work when it comes to doing stuff for the show."

"Maybe to you. Doesn't feel like that to me sometimes."

Nezzer climbed into the sedan's driver's seat, Lunt slid into the passenger's, and once Nezzer turned the car on, the duo was off.

_ Plip, plop, plip_...a handful raindrops hit the windshield as the ride to the studio began.

* * *

Nezzer let out a whistle as he pulled the car into the small parking lot. "Lookit that. The rain just keeps pourin' more and more by the second."

"Just as long as it doesn't flood the studio floors like last year, we should be good," Lunt replied.

The two climbed out, Nezzer whipping out an umbrella while Lunt tugged his jacket's hood over his head. Although he was already shielded from the rain, Lunt noticed a circular shade over his form. He looked up in time to see Nezzer at his side with the umbrella above both of them.

"Thought you could use a little more than a hood," was what the large man said with a smile. "Don't wanna catch a cold."

Lunt made an embarrassed grumble. "Thanks, _ Mom_."

Again, Nezzer chuckled.

Today was the start of a new day.

  


* * *

"So, by what we've got so far…" Bob backed up from the whiteboard, a black marker in his hold, and concluded, "it's safe to say that while they're all topics, they're the ones that won't fly well with the higher ups and some of the people that support the show...if you get what I mean."

"Divorce _ is _ pretty common though," Petunia pointed out.

Bob sighed, nodding. "I know. A lot of these subjects fall under that." He gave the group a small, sheepish smile. "Think we could conjure up some more stuff, guys? We're doing okay so far..."

Some of the folks in the room started talking amongst one another. This moment of running into a creative speed bump happened every so often when they had to begin churning new episodes. They were with the times, those people in which Bob mentioned...weren't so. Always had been the case...probably always will.

Suddenly, Larry shot up in his spot between Lunt and Pa. "I got a couple more, Bob!"

Archibald gave the cucumber a slightly amused look from the other end of the room. "I presume LarryBoy episodes?"

Larry whipped out a small box from, what it looked like, nowhere with a grin. "_Mostly_. Got a few westerns in here somewhere…"

Bob couldn't resist holding back the tug at his lips that tried forming a smirk while he rolled his eyes. "While I'm not surprised by what they are, I'm glad you've got some ideas. Thanks, Larry."

"_Pft_, I usually have ideas," Larry responded with an invisible wave of a hand.

He hopped over to Bob and handed him the box with pride. The tomato checked inside and saw a hefty stack of papers. He took a closer look and, after a moment, gaped upon realization.

"Are these..._ scripts_?!"

"I get a lot of ideas when I'm in bed."

Bob blinked.

"I…" the tomato shook his head and then tried again to speak, "let's take a break for now."

  


The wind and rain picked up in intensity outside, but for the cast and crew of VeggieTales, they were safe indoors and didn't pay much attention, even with how powerful the thunder rumbled. In fact, Jerry Gourd was just about finished with preparing some instant hot cocoa, a drink that he felt like a lot of people would appreciate during this weather.

He called out with his rather quiet voice, "Anybody want some hot chocolate?"

In an instant, he had fellow cast members hopping over from other parts of the cafeteria to retrieve a mug from the massive tray which the gourd held out.

Larry returned with some hot chocolate to the corner where he and Lunt sat. "Did I miss anythin'?" He plopped down on the ground with a grunt.

"The madman's tryin' another corruption code that's supposed to, like," Lunt paused, "make everybody's hands gigantic in the game."

"Ooh, sounds silly."

"A masterpiece is what that is."

"Still readin' what Larry wrote down, huh," Nezzer's voice from above his head caused Bob to jump in his seat from the interruption.

"O--oh, yeah," Bob stammered out while Nezzer took a seat beside him at a table. "He sure wrote a lot. There's about...eight short stories here, mostly 'LarryBoy' like he said."

He fidget in his seat, a small grin coming to his face.

"One of them's about Thingamabob's origins, which, uh...might've caught my eye more than once."

The zucchini smiled from amusement. "You really like that role, don't you?"

Bob felt his cheeks burn as he darted his eyes to the side and his small grin twisted into a larger one. "Yeah, I won't lie…"

Ahh, he should try changing the topic, or else he would turn even _ redder_, if physically possible. The tomato returned his gaze to the man beside him who was now flipping through the stapled pages before them with a hum.

Without hesitation, Bob blurted out, "B--but do _ you _ have any ideas? I hardly hear from you in the drawing room…"

Nezzer blinked, turning his head towards Bob. "Me? Let me see."

Bob watched Nezzer go quiet for a moment. His purple eyes focused to the table, narrowing. Now while Nezzer had given a hand in quite a few episodes, Bob came to the realization that the massive fellow beside him never completely "took the reigns" over an episode.

Maybe...this could be his _ first_!

Like Larry, Nebby K. Nezzer was a creative individual, especially when creativity was in dire need.

"Bob?"

Nezzer's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. Bob shook his head for a moment and then replied, "What is it?"

The zucchini gave him a smile. "Ever heard of '_The Story of Ferdinand_'?"

Bob tilted his head, blinking. "I don't think I have. What's it about?"

"A bull named Ferdinand who doesn't like fighting and spends his time with the flowers," he explained. Nezzer reclined before continuing the rundown on the story, "His mom's understanding of him and lets him be happy. When he's older, despite bein' a pretty strong bull - heck, the biggest one _ there _ -, he still doesn't want to fight."

Nezzer's purple eyes went up to the ceiling, the lights flickering for a split second, but nothing which caused alarm.

"The other bulls around him like fightin', and they especially wanted to show off to some people who were looking for tough bulls to fight a matador in Madrid. On that day, Ferdinand accidentally sat on a bee in the flower field and, well..."

"He flipped out?"

Nezzer grinned. "_And _ impressed the people! So, he was sent to Madrid to fight the matador. When he was in the arena, he saw some of the women wearing flowers and became distracted by those instead of fightin' the matador."

Bob let out a small chuckle. "And?"

"The matador cried and gave up because Ferdinand refused to attack!" Nezzer shifted in his seat to one side. "And so, Ferdinand went back to his favorite flower field and lived happily ever after." He was beaming once he completed the story's plot.

Well, that was a nice story.

"I think…" Bob spoke up, "I think we could do something with this, Nebby! It's a nice lesson about being yourself!"

"I had a feelin' we could do it," Nezzer responded and gave him a wink.

The tomato turned his entire body to face him, smiling from ear to ear (if he had ears). "And you know what? You seem to like that story, don't you?"

"Read the book when I was little a whole lot. I even read it once in a while nowadays."

"How would you feel about being in complete charge of this episode?"

For a reason Nezzer still couldn't figure out why exactly to this very day, the zucchini blushed as if thrown aback by Bob's suggestion. "You want me to direct it?"

"I _ do_," Bob confirmed, nodding. "In fact, I'm gonna tell the others about this when we regroup--"

On cue with the thunder clapping outside, the studio went dark, which in turn caused a few of the members to cry out by surprise.

"...oh dear," Bob could muster just as other voices began questioning or talking to each other about the sudden darkness. "They _ did _ mention something about a strong storm on the news…"

Meanwhile, Lunt checked the battery life on his phone while Larry flipped the flashlight on his own mobile phone on. "Good thing I charged it before I left," the gourd said to nobody but himself.

"Uh, Bob?" Larry called out, immediately getting Bob's attention while flashing the light towards the tomato, "Did we pay the light bill?"

"...the lightning did that, Larry," Bob flatly responded while squinting eyes at the invading light from Larry's phone.

Suddenly, a face shot up in Bob's face, followed by an accented, "Bob!"

Bob yelped but then regained his composure when he realized it was--, "Scooter?"

"I think the generator's been knocked out by that _ darn _ storm," the carrot told him.

"The generator...do you think so?"

" 'course! If it hadn't, these lights would've turned back on by now! It's not doin' what it's made to do!"

Nezzer joined in on the conversation, offering, "I could go and check real quick."

The thunder rumbled as though it was trying to reply to Nezzer's words.

Scooter stood up straight, having been in a squatting position in front of Bob until now, and gave an unsure glance to the side. "It's a-_ stormin_' out there, Nezzer." He returned his eyes to the zucchini. "If you're gonna step out there for the sake of us, at least lemme join ya."

Nezzer smiled. "Alright."

Bob spoke up, "Be careful out there, you two."

"No worries, we will," Scooter assured the small tomato.

  


"Uh," Larry asked, "you sure you wanna play this in the dark?"

"Shouldn't be _ that _ scary," Lunt huffed as he opened an app on his phone. "I'm not a scaredy cat like you are, man."

He gasped, offended. "You take that back!"

"You had to keep the bedroom light on the whole night at our sleepover because you wanted to play that 'Doki Doki' game."

"Dude, you wanted the light on too, you know."

Larry was right.

...still, no way was Lunt going to admit that he had gotten scared of it (or anything, for that matter).

Instead, the gourd (of the decorative kind) opened his mouth to say a smart response but caught the sight of Scooter and Nezzer opening the double door entrance from the corner of his right view. Both men were in their jackets while Nezzer whipped out his black pocket umbrella.

"What'cha lookin' at?"

"Guess the old men are gonna try gettin' the lights back on," Lunt replied to Larry.

The gourd hopped off his seat and went to the duo just as they were stepping out.

"Hey," Lunt called, getting their attention once he reached them, "where the heck are you two headin' to in _ this _ funky weather?" He gave Nezzer a look, a tiny grin coming to his face. "Leavin' me _ behind_, boss?"

Nezzer huffed a chuckle.

"Not to worry none," Scooter replied with a smirk at the teasing words directed at Nezzer, "we're just gonna head out and see if we can get the lights back on."

Nezzer joined in, "I'm pretty sure you wouldn't be a fan of coming outside with us for _ that_." He grinned. "Would you?"

The thunder rumbled through the heavy downpour.

"...yeah, probably not," Lunt replied with a shrug. "Sounds boring anyway."

He took a hop closer to Nezzer.

Lunt said in a joking manner, "Just watch where you're hoppin' while you're out there, old man. Don't wanna slip and fall in a puddle."

Once more, Nezzer huffed. "Boy, two things: I'm not _ that _ old, and I'm _ definitely _ a lot more careful than you are." He suddenly paused, thinking for a moment, and then said, "Oh, and also I'm not afraid of the rain like you are, _ so_…"

Lunt gasped at the insult. "Slander!"

The zucchini couldn't resist laughing as he ventured outside. Scooter chuckled and followed him, letting the doors close from behind.

Lunt simply stood there, grumbling incoherent words about the exchange. First, Larry teased him about the 'Doki Doki' game, and now Nebby was saying that he couldn't handle the rain like he was...some kind of _ cat_, or something.

_ Please_, he was from New Jersey, not Texas.

"So they're gonna fix the lights?"

Lunt yelled and almost dropped his precious mobile phone when Larry's voice spoke up from behind. He spun and saw Larry now attempting not to snicker at his reaction.

"Man, you're gonna make me jump out of my skin one of these days."

"...I thought you didn't get scared of anything," Larry said with a silly grin.

Lunt paused. "I...don't get scared."

"Uh huh."

"That's it, we're playing the game..._ at the darkest corner of this place_."

Larry's grin widened. "_ Bring it_."

* * *

The generator was situated behind the studio building, atop a three-foot high platform which had a tiny flight of stairs to access it. It sat in silence as the thunder and lightning continued doing what nature intended.

"Ahh, there she is," Scooter immediately said upon reaching the generator with Nezzer, "hardly makin' a sound."

Nezzer quirked a brow. "Is it supposed to?"

Scooter shrugged. "Maybe. We've only had to come back here once in a while to check up on it. Don't remember the sounds it made…"

Nezzer looked from Scooter then to the generator with a hum, thinking. He hopped up the four steps leading to the machine. While Scooter joined him up there and began to check the right sides of the generator, Nezzer decided to check the left portion of it.

Nezzer shifted the umbrella whenever he moved so he could view the generator better through the heavy rain. Nothing off here, or there…

"See anything, Nezzer?"

"Still searchin', Scooter. How about your end?"

"Everything's looking just fine so far," the carrot responded. "Fuel valve's where it needs to be."

"Hmm…" Nezzer narrowed his eyes and examined the left side again. Only other thing on this section besides a few vacant plugin sockets was a red, circular switch.

Nezzer stopped where he was, and then, after staring at that switch for a moment, lowered himself in front of it, his brows knitting in thought.

"...Scooter."

"Aye, what's up?"

From his position, Nezzer told him, "The generator's engine switch is _ off_."

"...oooh," Scooter joined him on the left of the generator, saying in a rather embarrassed tone, "I guess I forgot to turn it back on after I did some stuff with it last month."

"So, your bad?"

"My bad."

Nezzer barked a laugh at that.

  


Meanwhile…

"And as night grew near," Petunia continued her story, surrounded by Junior, Laura, Archibald, Jimmy, and Jerry at the table, "Sam felt the pit of his stomach drop, but he couldn't figure out why! Could it have been because he blew a raspberry at the strange kid at school earlier that day?"

Jimmy spoke up, "Yeah probably."

Archibald spoke up as well, though it was fussy in nature, "Petunia, this story isn't going to be silly at the end, will it?"

"It won't," she lied as the thunder rumbled in the background. "Anyway, once Sam got himself cleaned up for bed and said goodnight to his parents, almost hesitantly, he climbed into bed and kept his desk lamp on. It didn't take long for him to fall asleep...and neither did it take long for his lightbulb to die out!"

"Oh boy," Junior murmured.

Archibald scooted closer to Jerry nervously. Jerry, in the meantime, held his hot chocolate closer to himself but made himself listen to Petunia's scary story she told in the dark. If they had hands, Junior and Laura would've been holding each other's for comfort. Jimmy took a slow bite of his donut.

"Sam awoke all of a sudden and was shocked to find himself in his dark bedroom instead of the lit one he set up. He felt _ sick_, _ sicker _ than the time he ate liver and onions at his uncle's!" Petunia leaned into the group, continuing, "He could hardly see the _ outlines _ of his bedroom -- it was _ that dark_, and that darkness scared him! Oh, but nothing like the gut-wrenching fear he felt when he noticed a small form, like a kid's form, sitting at the foot of his bed. But it wasn't just a figment of his imagination... _ dot, dot, do _t…

It was _ Nicholas_! The weird kid he stuck his tongue out at! Sam couldn't open his mouth and ask why his classmate was here, but Nicholas had a different idea.

That fiend, that scoundrel! He leaned in to Sam with a blank stare, puckered his lips, and then--"

Petunia blew a raspberry at the group at the same time the lights turned on. The group, honestly, was more surprised by that instead of Petunia's twist ending, it seemed.

"...well," the rhubarb said with a shrug, "_that _ was anticlimactic…"

Larry and Lunt looked up at the lights over their heads, taking a moment away from the large "game over" written in pixelated blood on Lunt's phone screen.

"Looks like Nezzer and Scooter got the lights workin'," Larry said.

"Good," Lunt replied, "maybe I can see stuff better in the game this time."

"...you sure that's the reason why you're glad the light's on?"

"I wasn't gettin' scared! I was just getting jittery from caffeine." In a grumble, Lunt added, "I hardly get scared by stuff anyway."

  


Scooter could see light coming from the building thanks to the higher windows of the building and the humming of the generator. He beamed. "You did it, Nezzer!"

Nezzer made a small grunt and stood up straight. "All I did was turn it on…" he pointed out.

"Still, you did it!"

"True." Nezzer turned with a small smile, glad that the issue was resolved. "Anyway," he said as he began to head towards the steps, "let's hurry and head back insi--" the way he said 'inside' twisted into a yell as Nezzer slipped and practically flew a few feet off the ground…before crashing onto the bottom of the step, his back slamming on the step above it, causing him to cry out.

  
  


"Was that a yell…?" Bob worriedly got up from his seat and looked to the studio entrance.

Maybe he should go check on Nezzer and Scoot--

The double doors swung open, a frantic Scooter was there without his umbrella and getting soaked by the never-ending rain. This sight got a few people to stare at him; however, before anybody could ask what was wrong, Scooter cried, "Fellas, we're gonna either need an ambulance or to hurry to the hospital right _ now_!" 

Larry and Lunt were looking over to see what was going on as other crew members hurried to Scooter.

"An ambulance?" Larry blinked while his eyebrows furrowed in question.

Lunt paused his game. "The heck do they need an ambulance for?"

Scooter wasn't done explaining. "Nezzer took a fall out here! He's in a lot of pain!"

"Oh my god," Bob let that saying slip past his mouth just this once. "L--let me help you get him in my car, Scooter! We'll take him right away!"

"Bob, Scooter," Dad Asparagus threw his jacket on, offering, "let me help too. I'll go ahead and drive us there!"

More and more voices spoke all at once, each saying whatever in this situation. There was much concern for Nebby K. Nezzer by everybody. Larry gulped. This wasn't the first time somebody he knew had to be rushed to the hospital, so hearing about this was downright frightful for him. Poor Nezzer…

_ Clank_!

The sound of something hitting the floor beside him snapped Larry out of his thoughts. The item was Lunt's phone. His brown eyes traced upwards to the gourd's face. His mouth was parted a bit, and his body focused ahead to the doors where Scooter, Dad, and Bob rushed through.

Larry felt his stomach flop. This felt _ too _ familiar. As gently as he could muster, he called, "Lunt?"

"Hey," Lunt said, not even looking away from the scene, "remember when I said that I hardly get scared?"

"...yeah?"

He couldn't say what he wanted to. He couldn't admit that, at that moment as his stomach twisted into multiple knots, _ he was very scared_.


	2. Yeah He's Okay

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So much for getting this story done before the first VeggieTales Show episode came out, but that's cool, especially since I have a laptop now, which means I can pump this story out quicker. This one's pretty short, but maybe the next chapter will make up for it

* * *

"Out of all of the things that I expected to send me to the hospital, slippin' in a puddle wasn't even in the top ten," Nezzer grumbled out loud as he plopped his head back against the pillow.

"I guess it would've fallen under the 'accident at work' category," Bob replied in the chair beside Nezzer's hospital bed with a shrug.

"...does that mean I get paid for this?"

"Uh, well, I--I guess we could work something out, of course--"

Nezzer cracked a grin. "Boy, I'm kiddin'. I don't need money for what happened. It was just an accident!"

Bob slumped a little in his seat. "Oh. But," he spoke up, "you were in a lot of pain, so much so that they had to give you a lot of painkillers just to calm you down! Isn't there anything we could do to make it up to you once you're better?"

"..." The zucchini fell quiet, thinking to himself for a second. Suddenly, his eyebrows went up. His eyes met Bob's as he suggested, "How about lettin' me write and direct 'Ferdidill'?"

"Ferdidill?"

"It's the name I'm givin' our 'Story of Ferdinand' adaptation."

"Oh…" Bob cracked a smile. "Well, of course then! Were you gonna need some help?"

"Already have someone who's gonna assist me with this," Nezzer replied, shutting his eyes with a smile of his own.

"Oh, you mean--"

  
  
  


"Lunt?"

Lunt continued slipping some soda through a straw at a waiting room table just as Larry called his name. "Mh," he made a muffled sound in reply.

Larry tilted his head whilst unwrapping a candy bar. "How come you're not with Nebby?"

He released the straw from his mouth with a pop. "One visitor at a time. Bob's in there." The gourd went back to his drink nonchalantly.

Larry faltered. This was weird,  _ very _ weird that Lunt didn't seem fazed anymore, but maybe it's because he knew that Nezzer was going to be alright.

Larry puffed through his nostrils.

Wish he had been like that with Bob's accident.

"So, like," Lunt spoke up as he pushed his empty cup to the side, "whaddya get for someone in the hospital after somethin' like that?"

Larry thought for a second. "How about...chocolate? Flowers? Chocolate flowers?"

They sat in silence, having their own thoughts on what to get for the injured zucchini on the third floor. As they continued to wonder, their eyes (well, if Lunt had any to begin with) trailed from the table up to the hospital's gift store which calmly stood several feet in front of them.

Larry suggested, "Guess we could go in there and see."

But as Lunt rose from his seat with Larry, he felt a pair of eyes staring at him from one of the shop's windows. He looked in that direction, and a lightbulb went off in his head.

* * *

Scooter entered the room, whipping off his jacket, followed by his green scarf. "Ah, Nezzer! You're awake! How are you doin', buddy? I'm," he sighed out as he hung his head a bit, "really sorry about what happened..."

Bob turned around in his seat to greet Scooter. "Scooter, I don't think you have to apologize…"

Nezzer nodded in reply. "Scooter, Bob's right," he assured the man with a smile. "Should've watched where I was going, if you ask me."

Scooter lifted his head, sighing through his nostrils. "I suppose so, but I  _ still _ feel, somewhat, responsible about all of this."

"I'll be alright," the zucchini replied and shrugged without his smile faltering at all. "I just need to rest a few nights here, and then once I'm out, rest at home for a month and I should be okay after that."

On cue, right when he tried fixing himself in bed, a loud yelp ripped from his throat, scaring both Bob and Scooter. Nezzer flopped back against the bed with a grumble.

Scooter spoke up as he fiddled with the bottom of his jacket, "Ah Nezzer, I just  _ hate _ seein' you like this!"

Bob frowned. "Me too, honestly…"

"Fellas, it's gonna be o--…" Nezzer slowly, ever so cautiously, reached behind himself and fixed the pillow for his poor back, "...okay." He gave the men a small smile. "Honest! Besides, if I need help with anythin' once I'm at home, I could always ask for--" 

Larry popped up beside Nezzer's bed with a big box of chocolate, and the other three in the room cried out in surprise. "Hey Nezzer," he greeted the zucchini. "Got ya some 'get well soon' chocolate!"

"Oh," Nezzer laughed softly as he was handed the milk chocolate treats, "thank you, Larry."

"No prob. Lunt got ya somethin' too, but he said he has to wait outside since only two people are allowed in the room." Larry jerked his head towards the entrance, indicating the hallway.

Bob spoke, "A--actually Larry, the limit is  _ four _ people at a time, not two…"

Larry blinked. "Oh." He hopped over to the doorway and then poked his head out, saying, "Hey, you can come in. The limit's four, dude."

Almost faint, Lunt's voice could be heard going, "Oh yeah? Uh...guess I read the sign wrong. Well, let me in, then!"

Nezzer felt an amused grin tug at his lips as soon as he heard the gourd's voice; however, when Lunt entered, the grin widened at the massive, floppy-eared stuffed rabbit with equally massive feet.

"Well well well!" Lunt grunted for a moment as he plopped the adorable bundle of fluff onto the bed. "Look who went and fell anyway even though I said  _ not _ to!"

Nezzer gave him a tiny, playful glare whilst his cheeks puffed. "Boy…"

"I know, I know...it was an accident."

"Yeah, trust me. I'm not particularly a fan of falling since I'm on the 'big' side, body-wise--"

A small movement of trying to pull the plush bunny close to him caused Nezzer to loudly exclaim an "ow", scaring the four visitors. Lunt visibly flinched while Scooter pushed the bunny to Nezzer and Bob fixed the big pillow behind his back before Nezzer could fall back against it.

Scooter gave Nezzer a smile. "There ya are."

Bob asked the large man, "Are you okay? Need me to see if we can get something else for your back?"

Nezzer shook his head while hugging the plush bunny to his side. "Nah, I should be fine. If it gets too bad, I can call someone. Thanks anyway, Bob."

Larry took a quick glance at Lunt to see his reaction, but his mouth parted in question when he noticed Lunt lowered his head a little down and to the side.

_ That _ reaction sure did seemed familiar to him.

Nezzer spoke up, asking Bob with a tilt of his head, "Hey Bob, doesn't Joe get out of school in a few minutes?"

Bob froze. " _ What _ ?"

Scooter whipped out his pocket watch to check the time. "Looks like ol' Nezzer's right, Bob. It's ten minutes to two-thirty!"

The tomato sputtered at that. How on earth did time fly so fast?! Must have been when they were all in the waiting room while Nezzer was getting taken care of. Boy, he felt bad that he and Larry had to leave Nezzer so soon...

"Ah--I'm sorry Nezzer," Bob apologized suddenly, "we're gonna have to go now and pick up Joe!"

Nezzer gave him an understanding smile. "You're good. Tell Joe that I said 'hi'!"

"I will. Come on, Larry!"

Larry snapped out of his thoughts and returned to reality. "Oh yeah, Joe's gettin' out," he paused, "... _ and _ I'm gettin' a little hungry."

Then Scooter said all of a sudden, "Ack, I forgot I rode in the car with you two when we brought Nezzer. I'd better go too since riding those buses are just a  _ little _ too bumpy."

Bob paused. "Wait." He turned to Lunt. "You got here with us too, didn't you, Lunt?"

He shrugged. "Yeah, I did. I'll just take the bus back to the studio and take Nezzer's car."

Nezzer frowned a little. "You only have your driver's permit…"

"I should be fine."

"...you crashed the car into Archie's yard the last time you drove."

"Aural made me do it."

Bob gave Lunt a sheepish smile. "Don't worry, we can drop you off after we swing by to get Joe. Come down to the car as soon as possible. Okay?"

Lunt let out a puff. "Roger."

"Come on," the tomato said to Larry and Scooter with a jerk of his head to the hallway, "let's head out!"

Scooter gave Nezzer a sympathetic smile as he began to leave. "Get well, Nezzer!"

"Bye Nezzer," Larry followed, chiming out with a grin. "Hope you feel better!"

Once more, Bob smiled at Nezzer as well. "Take care, Nezzer. Call us if you want us to bring you anything!"

Nezzer nodded. "Will do."

And so, Bob took his leave; thus, leaving Lunt by himself with Nezzer. Lunt remembered that he only had a minute or two to talk to Nezzer before he had to go also.

Something about that made Lunt's stomach twist.

"So…" Nezzer's deep voice brought him back to reality, and Lunt realized he had been watching the doorway since the trio left.

Lunt turned to face the large man in the bed. "So…"

Nezzer grinned a little. "Looks like you get to have the house to yourself. It's been a while since you've had a chance like this."

The left side of Lunt's mouth twitched but paid no attention to it. Instead, he hopped onto the bed, taking a seat at the foot of Nezzer's bed. "I dunno if you should be happy 'bout that, old man. I could order three large pizzas and eating nothing but that 'til you come back," he said with a shrug.

"...well, if you really  _ want _ to. You might get sick though."

" _ Don't tempt me _ ."

Nezzer chuckled.

A moment of silence followed after the exchange.

Lunt was looking down at the ground, his mouth at a neutral state while the rest of him felt rather odd. It was as though he couldn't...just  _ look _ at Nezzer, his current condition, and what made him come here in the first place.

Did he feel bad for taunting him about slipping and falling out in that storm? Well...yeah, of course he did. Nezzer was his boss at one point which then led to them being, perhaps, companions.

"Oh, by the way, before you leave me…" Nezzer spoke, causing Lunt to look to him in question, "when I get home, we have a project to do."

He grinned.

Lunt quirked a brow. "Project?"

"I'm gonna tell the others not to tell you what it is. You'll find out once I'm at home with ya."

"As if Larry will spill the beans to me if I'm casual 'bout it."

Nezzer's grin widened. "That's what  _ you _ think." Instead of going into even a tiny bit of detail, the zucchini nudged his head towards the door. "Better get goin'. They gotta go get little Joe. Have an extra cup of pumpkin spice for me while you're at it."

And then, he added one more thing, saying, "Let the bunnies know what's up in case they're wondering."

Lunt couldn't resist himself from grinning at that request. Of  _ course _ the bunnies needed to know. "Yeah yeah, Bunny Dad. Rest easy."

Lunt fixed his hat as though he was tipping it at Nezzer before turning and taking his leave. Once the small gourd was gone, Nezzer relaxed and leaned back against the gentle pillow while grabbing the t.v. remote off the table beside him. His smile softened a tad when his eyes briefly glanced to his fluffy, inanimate companion before returning to the television.

* * *

After dropping off Scooter at his home, they arrived at the home which Nezzer and Lunt shared.

Bob asked just as Lunt opened the backseat passenger door, "Not gonna be lonely in that place, are you?"

"Nah, me and the bunnies are gonna marathon 'Planet of the Apes' with the largest pizza Pizza Hut makes," the gourd replied. He closed the door.

On cue, Larry popped his head out of the passenger window. "Save me a piece when I drop by."

Joe popped his head out the window as well. "I wanna have some too!"

Lunt gave the two a grin. "Maybe for Joe, but you're on your own, Larry."

Lunt ignored the cucumber sticking his tongue out at him as he began his brief hop to the entrance of the house.

Larry fell back against his seat, puffing through his nose. Just as Bob was about to drive off, the tomato caught the sound of Larry's puffing.

"Something wrong, Larry?"

"Huh?" The cucumber blinked, looking over to him, but then he realized Bob must have noticed the sound he made. "I was just...wonderin' if Lunt's gonna be okay."

Joe spoke up, curiously, "What's wrong with Mister Lunt?"

Larry slowly shrugged while his eyes rolled off to the side. "Well...he just seemed a little quiet before we went in the room to see Nezzer," then he added, glancing back to Bob, "he said he was fine though, so…"

Bob tilted his head. "Well, alright…"

And with that, the car went away from the house.

* * *

"Alright you fluff balls," Lunt said as soon as he approached the bunnies' room, "Dad hurt his back, so he's stayin' at the hospital for a day or two," he shifted his hat then continued, "so I'm head of the house 'til he gets back on his feet."

He paused.

"Well, you know what I mean."

Some of the bunnies were just...doing whatever bunnies did, others slept, and others were eating from their massive bowl of bunny food.

"Anyway," he said to the fluffy animals, "let me know if you need anythin'. I'll check on you all later."

He returned to the living room but paused midway, for something that Nezzer said to him before he left rung in his head:  _ "Have an extra cup of pumpkin spice for me while you're at it" _ .

"...guess I will."

Minutes later, he had a freshly brewed cup of pumpkin spice and another one sitting on the coffee table in front of him. Lunt sat back against the warm linen couch while he sipped away and let the television play whatever the heck was on.

Yeah, cool, he got the house to himself.

...but it didn't feel right, the drop he felt in his stomach when he first arrived to the hospital and again when he saw Nezzer in that hospital bed told him so.

In fact, he was sure he had felt it earlier too when Scooter hurried into the studio because Nezzer--

_ "Just watch where you're hoppin' while you're out there, old man. Don't wanna slip and fall in a puddle." _

His stomach flopped, and he almost had the urge to throw up the coffee he drank.


	3. Road to Recovery?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lunt watched as the coffee machine began to drip out the caffeinated drink into the pot mutely. Was his body going to reject enjoying this as well? He wasn't sure.
> 
> If he had arms, he would've been laying on them while he finished watching the coffee get prepared. His mouth quirked to the right, frowning. He had pizza, he was getting coffee, Larry (fellow trouble maker) was here, he didn't have to go anywhere...it should be a nice day today, but it wasn't.
> 
> It just wasn't.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aural is Lunt's apparent step-brother that he mentioned in a (character hosted) commentary. By the way, I wasn't really sure how to end this chapter, so...it's gonna end really abruptly. Sorry about that ;;

"A two page essay analyzing a sixty second commercial? Give me a break..." he grumbled at his computer desk, looking at the image on the screen.

Suddenly, his mobile phone to the right of him vibrated on the desk.

Aural, or -- as a few have called him --  _ Mister  _ Aural disregarded his assignment for a moment to check who could be texting him this late. He retrieved the device while plopping back against his chair with a sigh through his nostrils.

It was a new text message from Lunt.

He opened his chat log with Lunt and saw that it was merely a hand waving emoji.

Well, time to procrastinate.

"<<Hey little bro what's up.>>"

Lunt immediately replied with, "<<Hey Aural...got the house to myself for a while.>>" 

"<< Nice. Not gonna throw a house party or something while Nebby's out are you?>>"

"<<nah.>>"

Aural blinked. "<<Dang really? What's wrong? Are you sick?>>"

After questioning Lunt, Aural didn't see an instant response from the other gourd. In fact, it took a moment or two before Lunt finally replied. What his sibling said next  _ really _ got his attention.

"<<he had an accident at the studio so it's not really a good feeling doing something like that you know.>>"

Aural's brows raised at that. "An accident? Is the old guy okay?"

  
  


"<<Nebby had an accident? Man what happened?>>"

Lunt was laying on his back on Nezzer's massive -- and very, very comfy -- Alaska King sized bed while he continued his conversation with his step-brother with a sense of guilt residing in his gut.

He found himself letting out a short sigh.

"<<he slipped and fell outside while trying to get the power back on for the studio like...around eleven or twelve today during that storm.>>"

"<<is he gonna be okay?>>"

His stomach twisted and turned into tight knots.

"<<yeah,>>" Lunt answered, "<<he will be. Gotta stay there a day, two, three before he can leave. But the thing is...>>" he trailed off in his text, trying to think how to word the rest of his feelings to Aural.

Aural spoke up, "<<Lunt?>>"

Lunt sent the first half of his text, and then he completed his sentence, typing, "<<the thing is I said something to him a little while before it happened and I guess I feel bad about it.>>"

Once that other portion was sent and read by him, Aural asked, "<<how come? Did you say something like 'don't slip and fall in a puddle old man'?>>"

Silence.

"<<uh how did you know?>>"

"<<lucky guess.>>"

He sighed loudly and then sat up. "<<I guess what I'm trying to get at is that I think Nebby hurting himself was my fault.>>"

"<<Bad timing, but I don't think it's your fault. The poor guy just slipped in some water and fell, it's not like you tripped him or something along that line.>>"

"<<true.>>"

"<<I'll bet if you ask him that he'd say it wasn't your fault.>>"

Aural was right, but, he just couldn't help but feel as though Nezzer  _ could _ blame him if he wanted to. Instead of objecting what Aural said, Lunt, instead, replied with, "<<yeah I guess he wouldn't.>>"

"<<so don't worry! Just let the big guy recover and you try to keep the house nice like he would've wanted it to be. Oh yeah, and take care of the bunnies.>>"

"<<dully noted. Thanks Aural.>>"

"<<No problem, little bro,>>" Aural added a heart emoji at the end of his sentence.

"<<anyway, I guess I'll be heading to bed, You go do your college homework or whatever.>>"

"<<how did you know I had homework?>>"

And all that Lunt said was, "<<lucky guess.>>"

The decorative gourd leaned off the bed and sat his mobile phone upon Nezzer's dresser, deciding not to shut it off for the night in case anybody decided to text him...or if he needed to text somebody. The bedroom light was already off, so all Lunt had to do was climb under the sheets and plop his head down on one of the many pillows. He left Nezzer's bedroom television on; however, he made certain to use the remote to turn down the volume to nearly mute so it wouldn't disturb his rest.

Wouldn't be the first time he hijacked Nezzer's bed, but dang, he felt like he had to do this instead of sleeping in his nice king sized bed.

It was kind of comforting.

...

Nezzer was going to be okay. He was gonna get better. That big fella could handle it. Sure it might be a couple of days before he could come home, but it would be worth it.

_ "When I get home, we have a project to do," _ Nezzer's voice echoed in his head seconds before Lunt felt himself falling asleep. What kind of project could he have meant?

* * *

Mister Nebby K Nezzer sighed through his nostrils, looking down at the scribbled notes he made on a hospital branded notepad. Just the overall summary of "Ferdinand", a messy yet endearingly cute doodle of a bull's head, and nothing more. Sure, he could've watched something on the television or went to sleep since he was already in bed; however, he simply couldn't wait to get working on their rendition of "Ferdinand".

...well, he would've enjoyed working on it, but how would one stretch out a short children's storybook into an hour long episode?

He hummed briefly.

The zucchini sat the notepad onto the end table beside him and retrieved his cellphone. The time at the top of its screen read "11:45".

"Somethin' seems off about that boy," he found himself murmuring all of a sudden. "Maybe I should text him before hittin' the hay..."

  
  


The sound of his phone buzzing twice brought Lunt back. He flipped to his side and grabbed the device to check what the notification could have been.

It was a text from Nezzer which said, "<<Goodnight,>>" there was a bunny emoji placed afterwards, then, "<<I'll be resting well here don't worry. Don't forget that Coco's banned from going anywhere near the bathroom.">>

Still sleepy, it took him a moment to process the text, and once he did, he huffed a quiet laugh. "Got it, the 'toilet paper floor' incident."

In reply, Lunt answered, "<<Got it boss. Night...>>"

Nezzer felt a smile tug at his lips. "Night, Lunt."

* * *

_ Ka-klack _ , he opened the hospital room door as quietly as he could and in poked Bob's head.

"Mister Nezzer, are you up?"

He spotted the large zucchini man, awake and sitting up in bed with a tray of fresh, steaming food in front of him. His stuffed bunny sat up beside him with a napkin tied around its neck as though it was going to join in the feast as well.

"Mornin' Bob," though a bit sleepy sounding, Nezzer still replied with his usual friendly tone, smiling at him. "Nice to see you here so early."

The tomato smiled back. "I wanted to see how you were doing and hang out with you for a while since Larry's planning on visiting Lunt later. So," he hopped inside and took a seat in the chair beside Nezzer's bed with a tiny grunt, "how are things?"

"Back still kinda hurts of course," Nezzer shifted in the bed for a moment before grabbing his mug of coffee, "but they're saying I should be good enough to leave in another day or two."

"That's great!"

Suddenly, there was a faint gurgling sound which made itself known. This surprised both men, but when Nezzer looked to Bob to see if the tomato had heard the sound, he noticed how he was darting his eyes to the side, looking even redder than he usually did.

"...you haven't eaten yet?"

"...I guess I forgot to before I left the house."

Nezzer couldn't help but muffle a chuckle at the embarrassed response. He looked at his plate. He didn't touch his bacon and toast but was mid-way through his sausage omelette. He opened a napkin and placed two uneaten items and nudged it towards the end of his tray.

"Have this in the meantime," he offered.

Bob, when he returned his eyes to the side, carefully retrieved the food. "Thanks, Mister Nezzer."

He smiled. "No problem."

They began to eat together, listening to whatever channel Nezzer had on the television. The stuffed bunny, of course being a stuffed bunny, simply sat there with the bib still secured around its neck and stared ahead.

Bob, all of a sudden said after swallowing a piece of bacon, "If Larry and Lunt mess up any of your property, I apologize in advance."

"Wouldn't be the first time," a muffled assurance was what Bob received from Nezzer.

* * *

"Ooh, pizza for breakfast. Must be nice doin' this without someone judin' ya like Bob would do." Larry sat back against the couch with an ooey-gooey slice of cheese pizza awaiting to enter his grinning mouth.

"Done it before but got a few looks from Nezzer," Lunt replied with a shrug, "so it's not like I did this judgement free  _ all _ the time."

With the slice poking halfway out of his mouth, Larry watched Lunt recline against the couch with a slice of pepperoni supreme with a tiny grin crossing his face. The gourd was licking his lips, getting hungrier the longer he stared at the pizza.

The pizza drooped and so did Lunt's small grin, faltering into a neutral form of a partly open mouth, but one too small to even fit the pointy end of the hot food before him.

Larry, seeing this happen, quirked a brow. "Uh, you okay...?"

Lunt looked from the pizza to Larry and then back to the pizza. As good as it looked, as good as probably tasted, he placed the pizza back in its box. "Eh, guess I'm not as hungry as I thought I was." He hopped off the couch. "Maybe I'll have some coffee for now. Want any?"

He adjusted himself on the couch now that he had it to himself for the time being by swinging his lower portion of his body on top of the couch seat without dropping the rest of his food. "The usual," he told him.

"Got it. Be right back."

Larry's eyes followed Lunt hopping to the kitchen. Something about his sudden change in eating felt odd. He tilted his head like a confused puppy at where Lunt was sitting. "Who would get turned off by pizza all of a sudden?"

Lunt watched as the coffee machine began to drip out the caffeinated drink into the pot mutely. Was his body going to reject enjoying this as well? He wasn't sure.

Coco the bunny continued napping on the kitchen table.

If he had arms, he would've been laying on them while he finished watching the coffee get prepared. His mouth quirked to the right, frowning. He had pizza, he was getting coffee, Larry (fellow trouble maker) was here, he didn't have to go anywhere...it should be a nice day today, but it wasn't.

_ It just wasn't. _

The coffee was done.

Once he gathered the two mugs of coffee, he began his return to the living room

...not noticing that Larry had been poking his head around the corner before he turned around to exit the kitchen.

Larry plopped himself back on the couch with a tiny "oof" just in time, for Lunt joined him on the couch seconds later with their drinks. "Got the chocolate Santa sticks in 'em?"

"Two Santas for you," he handed Larry his mug, "and one Santa choco stick for me."

As soon as he saw the two chocolate Santa Claus sticks, a silly grin came to Larry's face. " _ Nice _ ."

Dolly the bunny hopped on top of the coffee table as the two began to drink their coffee. Lunt was glad he found the strength to consume his. Guess his stomach needed some liquids first before getting to the good stuff.

While drinking from his own mug, enjoying the chocolate-y taste mixed in with his coffee, Larry took a subtle glance over to Lunt. The gourd was just drinking away, staring ahead at the television, but not really watching whatever was playing.

Larry thought for a moment.

The way Lunt was simply standing in the kitchen, uncharacteristically silent as the coffee made itself was an odd sight, and as Larry kept his eyes on him, he was getting a gut feeling that this was definitely familiar to the cucumber.

  
  


_ _ _ The kitchen clock made its usual "tick, tock, tick, tock" as his brown eyes watched the leftover pizza spin around and around in the microwave. _

_ _ _ He wasn't hungry, but he knew he had to eat. That's what Bob would've wanted. Bob said so himself before Larry left the hospital that day. _

_ _ _ Bob. _

_ _ _ The microwave beeped, informing him that the pizza was ready, but Larry didn't budge from his spot, still leaning against the counter with tired, glassy eyes. _

_ _ _ Bob was going to be okay, he just got banged up while recording an episode as he did a stunt... _

_ _ _ ...he just got banged up a lot. _

_ _ _ It was enough to leave marks on him, enough for Bob to be barely conscious when he was taken away in an ambulance. Did he bleed? Larry thought he did. It wasn't a lot to really worry about, but... _

_ _ _ he was going to be okay, _

_ _ _ Bob was going to be okay. _

_ _ _ Bob wasn't going to-- _

_ _ He wasn't going to _ ... _

_ _ _ Larry let out a hitched sob, followed by a weaker, shaky one. He felt tears streaming down his face, as much as he tried not to cry again so soon. He knew Bob wouldn't enjoy hearing he was crying, but he couldn't help it! Bob could have died today, and he felt as though it would've been his fault for not helping Bob like he was supposed to. _

_ _ _ All of this was upsetting, horrible, and downright  _ scary _ . _

_ _ _ He could've lost someone so important in his life during something the two of them loved: making their show together. _

_ _ _ Larry could've lost Bob. _

Larry realized he was staring down at his coffee while Lunt didn't seem to notice the change in his behavior just yet. His eyes glanced over to the gourd, his mind wondering if...if, perhaps, Lunt was going through a similar situation he had, after all.

...okay, maybe he should be subtle about asking Lunt.

...subtle how?

As a very fluffy brown and white bunny hopped and landed atop his head from behind him, Larry lowered his mug and made an audible, "Uh...Lunt?"

The simple use of his name grabbed Lunt's attention with ease. He looked over at Larry. "What's up? Too many Santas and not enough coffee?"

"Nah, it's not that. I was gonna ask somethin' about you and Nezzer."

"...what about?"

Larry opened his mouth, prepared to ask a question, but his voice refused to make itself known. He frowned and bit his lip for a moment. Dang it, he hated it when he did that. Thankfully, Lunt wasn't giving him a weird look or asking what was taking him so long to ask whatever the heck he wanted.

"Man, to see you so quiet is pretty dang rare," Lunt commented.

Larry chuckled and glanced off to the side, embarrassed, "Yeah, I know."

He turned his body on the couch to face Larry more. "...well, it's just the two of us," he noticed the bunny on Larry's head and jerked his own head at it in acknowledgement, "...and Lady Killer. It's fine. What's up?"

"How's Nezzer?"

"Haven't talked to him since last night, so I'm not sure."

"Oh."

"He's..." Lunt gave a shrug, "he's doin' okay, I guess. He didn't mention anythin' hurtin' while we were on the phone. It's gonna take a  _ lot _ to take down the big fella."

His hold on his mug loosened a bit but then it tightened. (Trust me, despite the lack of hands, he was doing that.)

"A whole lot."

Larry tilted his head. "And what about you?"

He quirked a brow at him. "What  _ about _ me?"

"W--well, it's just...ever since the accident happened, you've been kinda off."

Lunt's quirked brow lowered back in place. His mouth was left open, but it soon formed a small, thin line. As much as he didn't want to admit it, he  _ did  _ feel different, and for no real reason!

...

"If I said, 'I've been okay, I guess', I'd be lying," Lunt replied, shrugging once again.

Larry sat up straight. "So you're not doin' so well?"

For the third time, the gourd shrugged. "I don't get why I  _ wouldn't  _ be. Not like I was the one who ended up in the hospital."

He bowed his head, his brown eyes' reflection staring back at him. They were downcast, almost sad. Quietly, but not weak in tone, "...but someone you care about did, even though he's gonna be okay," he said. "Was it scary that it happened to Nezzer?"

All Lunt did was pull his drink closer to him. His hat dipped down and hid his facial expression from Larry. For the first time in a while, it was hard for him -- someone who's been called a loudmouth by several -- to speak.

Larry chuckled weakly. "I guess it was. I know how you feel." He began to swirl the coffee in his hold and watched its hypotizing movement. "I was like this when Bob got hurt badly on the set and had to go to the hospital."

"Oh yeah, that accident a few years back," Lunt mumbled.

"I--I mean," Larry spoke louder, sitting up straight again to look directly at the gourd, "I could be wrong but--"

"Nah, you're right," he interrupted him as he shoved aside the sickening feeling in his stomach, "you're... _ really _ right, I think." The left side of his mouth quivered to a line; however, he forced a small grin for Larry. "That's because he's my former boss and I live at his place! It would kinda suck if anything happened to him! I'd be without a home and have seven bunnies to take care of!"

Larry blinked. "Is that all...?"

He barked out a laugh. "Sure sounds like it to me! Just genuine ol' concern between the former boss and the right hand man!"

"Oh."

"Yeah, don't worry about me. I'll be fine. That old guy will be up and out of there in a couple of days anyway! Might as well go crazy and have some fun here while he gets better," he gave Larry a cat-like grin, "wouldn't you say?"

Larry's brows furrowed. "Oh, uh, y--yeah, I guess so."

* * *

"Since you're here, do you have any sort of insight or suggestion for 'Ferdidill'?"

Bob hummed in thought for a moment, sitting back in his chair. "Were you...gonna have everybody dress up as animals for the animal roles, or...?"

Nezzer's mouth quirked a bit to the left. "I don't think so."

"Huh, too bad."

"Why's that?"

He couldn't resist a chuckle before confessing, "I would've liked seeing you dressed up like a bull."

Nezzer paused.

"Did you say  _ me  _ dressed up as a bull?"

"Well, yeah! Weren't you going to play him?"

Oh, he...never thought about roles until just now, but, he  _ should've _ . It was  _ his _ idea, so of  _ course _ he should play Ferdidill! He felt his cheeks burn a smidge, thinking about how silly he probably would look in a bull costume, despite his body size being rather suitable (for a zucchini anyway) to the role.

"Well," Nezzer replied with a small shrug, "yeah?"

Bob hummed in thought, but then he nodded in understanding. "That's alright for now, what's more important about getting an episode together is the story itself." He gave him a smile. "That's why you're having Lunt help out, isn't it?"

"Not only that, but..." his voice trailed off, shrugging again. "I want his insight since I want him to have a role in it too. Maybe as some sort of new character to the 'Ferdinad' story."

"Ah, I see."

Silence.

"Y--you know, I was thinking," Bob spoke up all of a sudden, "I think Lunt was worried about you yesterday, e--even though it might not have seemed like it."

The large man raised a brow. "Y' think so?"

"Larry seems to think so too."

Huh, so he and Larry could tell as well? Not too surprising, but still.

"I've known that boy for a long time," Nezzer said, "and I sure could tell somethin' was off about him too." He laughed lightly, joking, "He must have been worried about losing the place he called 'home' if somethin' serious happened to me!"

Bob didn't catch the joke and instead faltered. "Uh--"

"It's a joke, don't worry."

"Oh, got it."

Nezzer was prepared to say something else, but he found himself wincing from a sudden flash of hot pain shooting up his spine, causing him to let out a rather loud "ow" in the process. 

Worried for the older man, Bob got up from his chair and asked, "Need me to get a nurse, Nezzer?"

One eye was shut, the other looked over at Bob. He gave him a sheepish, weak smile. "Sure. Thanks, Bob."

* * *

The rest of the time in which Larry and Lunt spent together continued for three hours on the irresistible couch of Nezzer's with pizza and even more drinks on the side. Once in a while, one of Nezzer's furry babies -- the bunnies -- would appear and disappear in the living room, but the one called 'Lady Killer' simply lingered on the arm of the couch beside Larry.

...huh, Larry could've  _ sworn _ that Nezzer called that big ball of fluff beside him "Lunt" but kept it a secret from the gourd since Lunt was the first to name...well, Lunt the Bunny.

Oh well, it's cool to have more than one name.

His train of thought was abruptly interrupted, for his phone on the coffee table vibrated for a moment, alerting him that he got a text message. He felt Lunt watching him lean over and retrieve the mobile phone and then sit back against the recliner.

"It's Bob," he announced, in case Lunt wanted to know who interrupted their channel-surfing bonding time.

Lunt tilted his head to one side. "Time to head home?"

"Looks like it."

"Hm."

"Oh hey," Larry perked a little, "Bob said the hospital's gonna let Nezzer out in two days!"

The news was great of course, but a strange yet weak twist made itself present. It didn't linger, at least. Lunt made a small, toothy grin at the news. "The ol' fella's a pretty fast healer. Ain't surprised."

"And Nezzer said to kiss the bunnies for him."

"...I'll think about it."

Larry fought back a snicker at the hesitation in the gourd's voice; however, he felt his tiny smile falter completely, his eyes glancing downwards in the meantime. He wondered if Lunt was gonna be okay by himself again. He had a nagging feeling that, maybe, just  _ maybe _ , Lunt was lonely since Nezzer was out due to an unfortunate circumstance.

...ehh, it would be worth a shot.

"Hey Lunt," Larry spoke up, turning his head to him, "if you ever feel like it, you can drop by our house. You can bring the bunnies too!" Lady Killer made a small, bunny grunt.

A brow was raised. "I'll think about it. Thanks for the offer, Larry."

* * *

Bob was exiting the hospital when he accidentally rubbed shoulders (well, shoulder against body) with a passerby. "Oh, sorry--"

The zucchini turned and saw Bob. "Well, if it isn't Bob!"

Bob blinked but then recognized the man as-- "Hi Wally! Came here to see Nebby?"

Wally, one of Nezzer's brothers, nodded. "Sure have. Heard he took a slip on the job," he leaned in towards Bob with a sly grin, "you gonna pay him for that?"

Bob chuckled a little. "No, Nebby said it was okay, but he  _ is _ going to be in charge of the next 'VeggieTales' episode as payment."

His brows perked upon hearing that. "That should be interesting. Did he say what it's gonna be about?"

He nudged his head towards the hospital entrance. "Try asking him yourself, maybe you'll be able to steer him in the right direction."

"Well, if it has anything to do with rabbits, it would be painfully predictable."

"Don't worry, it's not."

Wally let out a chuckle of his own before giving Bob a nod and finally entering the facility.

Bob whipped out his phone to check the time. His outing with Larry and Joe would be in an hour, once he picked up Larry and then waited for Joe to get out of school for the day. He looked back to the hospital. "I'm glad he's gonna get out soon. I still feel so bad about him getting hurt..."

He looked ahead.

"And I can't help but be really curious about what he's cooking up for the show. Maybe we should have something special for him at the studio when he gets back."

* * *

** _Honk honk!_ **

"Is that the old man?"

Larry popped his head around the door and beamed. "Yep, it's him!"

"Well," Lunt hopped up and retrieved Lady Killer/Lunt the Bunny from the top of the cucumber's head when he returned inside, "thanks for stoppin' by, man."

"Anytime," he gave Lunt a toothy smile -- well, the best he could give him anyway. He looked at the bunny. "See ya, Lunt the Bunny!"

Lunt paused at the name, but all Lunt the Bunny did was make a small grunt in response.

If Larry could, he would've waved, but...y'know, since he didn't have the necessary limbs to do so, he gave Lunt a nod and left, shutting the door.

Once he heard the squeaky "hi Bob" and the sound of a car door opening and closing, Lunt glanced down to the bunny in his hold. The bunny looked up at him through the fluffy fur covering his eyes.

"One of us is gonna have to change our name and it  _ ain't _ gonna be me, you ball of fluff."

The bunny, once more, grunted.


	4. Confide

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "...am I really gonna confide in a rabbit that looks like me?"
> 
> Well, who else did he really have? He said as much as he wanted to Aural, his own brother. He sorta-not-really told Larry what was happening, and Larry was rather close to him after all of these years. More and more names of folks he knew and trusted floated in his mind, dismissing each and every one of them. He just couldn't do it.  
...  
...no, he most definitely couldn't tell Nezzer. He was ashamed.
> 
> Inhale, exhale through his nostrils.
> 
> "Okay okay," he grabbed the remote and turned the volume down a bit, as though he was worried about whether the bunny would hear him or not, "guess I don't have a choice."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh, so
> 
> that was quite a hiatus, huh? Sorry about that. Half a year later, and I'm finally back writing! Hopefully, I'll finally be able to continue and finish this story so I can get back to my other 2 I have waiting. For the time being, this chapter's a bit on the short side, but I'll probably have the next chapter up within a month or 3 weeks top. (Now that I think about it, I *might* have had a writer's block with this because while I knew how the story's gonna go after this chapter, I was stuck on *this* scenario ;; who knows)

* * *

Wallace P. Nezzer was known to some as "Mister P. Nezzer" or simply "Wally" since he had a like/dislike for the formal version of his name. For his dear brother, Nebby Nezzer, he went with "Wally" as an endearing address, and that's exactly what he exclaimed as soon as he saw his brother enter his hospital room.

"Wally! So you decided to hop on by and visit your twin, huh," Nezzer cracked a grin upon seeing the well dressed Wally enter.

"I don't see why not," he replied with a slight shrug. "Mom and Pop wanted me to make sure you were okay since they're still vacationing in Madrid." Wally sat down in the chair which once had Bob sitting in it with a grunt. "So, tell me again how you've managed to hurt yourself because of a careless misstep?"

It was Nezzer's turn to shrug, feeling a bit embarrassed now that Wally put his situation that way. "I just took a bad hop was all. Usually, Wally, a little puddle of water isn't enough to knock me down."  
  


  
"Heard it rain cats and dogs in this area, so...those 'little puddles' were probably not so little."  
"...probably, but--"

Wally snickered at Nezzer's -- well, Nebby's -- feeble attempt to explain himself. "No buts here, Nebby, only the truth and nothing but."

"...that ended with a 'but', though."  
"Shut up, you know what I mean."

While Nezzer let out a scoff, Wally reclined, making himself comfortable for this visit. For additional comfort, he undid his tie, asking his brother, "How's our little Lunt handling this brief separation? Did he burn the place down yet?"

"Thankfully, no he hasn't damaged any property at the moment," he replied. Nezzer glanced over to his stuffed bunny companion from Lunt he had received and fixed it up in its seat beside him. "Seems like he's doin' just fine, but for some reason, I get the naggin' feelin' that..." he shrugged once again, "maybe he's a little upset that I got hurt?"  
His brows raised, mumbling, "Really now..."

"Just a guess though, judgin' by what Bob told me whatever it was that Larry said."  
"What would that be?"

"That maybe," he fixed himself straight in bed, "Lunt blames himself for me landin' in the hospital in the first place. Larry said he looked scared when Scooter called for help for me."

Wally gave him a side glance which Nezzer couldn't really read what he was trying to say with his eyes.  


"...what?"  
"Nothing."

Nezzer puffed his cheeks, almost huffing until Wally suddenly asked, "What's the episode gonna be about?"

"...episode? Oh, you mean, '_Ferdidill_'? But how--"  
"Bob mentioned about you working on something for the show after we bumped into each other outside."

  
"Huh, well..." he turned to his stuffed bunny, grabbed the hospital-branded notepad from its lap, and then returned to Wally, "you know that one story Pop read to us as kids all the time about the bull?"  
Wally immediately knew. "You're doing something off of Ferdinand?" He paused. "...you're gonna be prancing around in a bull costume? _Please_ tell me you are."

  
"No bull costume."  
"Shoot. Well, the 'make peace, don't fight' moral's a good one, at least."  
"Yeah, but I still have no clue where to go from there...which is why, I think, I'll let Lunt take the reigns for that."  
  


Wally tilted his head. "So you're giving him something to do for this? Shouldn't be surprised, I guess."  
  


"Of course I'm letting him help!"  
"...knowing him, he'll make this as chaotic as possible."  
  


Although Nezzer chuckled at first, he objected with, "To be fair, he's pretty good. He can get a little too wild, but hey...he was one of the main writers for 'Esther' and 'Fennel Frontier'--"  
  


"And both movies--"  
"I'm giving you examples when he wasn't almost in trouble with the law or destroyed public property, Wally."  
  


Wally smirked from amusement. "Got'cha."

The door suddenly opened and in popped the doctor's head with a clipboard in, uh, "hand". "Afternoon, Mister Nezzer! I'm gonna give you a checkup in a couple of minutes to see how well your back is doing. Just a heads up, okay?"

And just like that, she was gone.

  
"...think you'll be heading home soon?"  
"Depends. I've only had a few sharp pains in my back this morning..."

  
"Good," Wally responded. "You always did heal pretty quickly."

"Usually," he corrected him. "Let's see how long this takes."

  
"I'm betting another day or two before you're out of here."  
"Two days for me."

  
The two men chuckled, but the stuffed bunny didn't since it was a stuffed bunny.

* * *

Ahh, still nice and warm. Papa Mario never failed keeping its pizza temperature the same as when they popped out of the oven thanks to their specially made insulated pizza boxes. Lunt's brows quirked at the warmth filling his mouth thanks to the cheese-covered meal as he continued to stare at the television. It was playing the afternoon news, so he wasn't as invested as he would've been had it been on something...well, interesting.

But he didn't feel like changing the channel yet.

He reclined, his back touching the softness of the couch within no time at all.

...

...

...

...geez, it's quiet. Too quiet.

After finishing the piece of pizza, he grabbed his mobile phone to check to see if there were any recent texts from anybody.

Nope, nothing yet.

Lunt the Bunny hopped into the spot next to him with a tiny grunt. The gourd glanced over at him.

"Oh...hey, name stealer."

The bunny just sat there, staring at the television as if the fluffy bunny could even see the thing, considering he always looked like his eyes were closed.

He sat his phone aside and picked up the name-stealing bunny, observing his face. "Why the heck did Nezzer name you after me?" He tilted the bunny to one side, the animal not seeming to care, only grunting softly. Lunt noticed how fluffy the cheeks looked thanks to his massive amount of fur. If it weren't for the ears and bunny tail, he could've passed as a Persian cat or something...

...  


Curiously, he tilted the bunny backwards then brushed the fur away from where his eyes should be.

There were a pair of cute, half-lidded eyes staring at him.

Lunt stayed quiet for a moment, but then he gave the bunny a grin, lifting the rim of his dear hat back to show off his matching set of eyes to the fur ball. "Ahh, I see. Guess he really saw me in ya after all."

  
Pause.

  
"Copy cat."

Lunt the Bunny grunted.

"You're lucky you're cute," he sat him aside. "Anyway, did you come here to talk to me or somethin'?"

His nose was twitching innocently as he kept staring up at Lunt (the gourd).

  
"...am I really gonna confide in a rabbit that looks like me?"  
"..."

  
Well, who else did he really have? He said as much as he wanted to Aural, his own brother. He sorta-not-really told Larry what was happening, and Larry was rather close to him after all of these years. More and more names of folks he knew and trusted floated in his mind, dismissing each and every one of them. He just couldn't do it.

...

...no, he most definitely couldn't tell Nezzer. He was ashamed.

  
Inhale, exhale through his nostrils.

  
"Okay okay," he grabbed the remote and turned the volume down a bit, as though he was worried about whether the bunny would hear him or not, "guess I don't have a choice."

* * *

_ 'I get it that, yeah...wasn't my fault that Nezzer got hurt, but...'_

  
Wally gave Nezzer a nod and small smile before hopping out of the room, and then, seconds later, the doctor from earlier reappeared with a sincere and cheerful, "Hi again, Mister Nezzer," and the man in question responding, "Hi, Doctor Abby."

  
_ 'I've been gettin' these sick twists in my stomach. I just had to have said not to slip and fall, and...look at what happened to him. Coincidence? Irony? I dunno man.'_

"Let me know if it's too much, okay?" Doctor Abby carefully pat from behind his neck and moved downwards. (For us hand-owning guys, this probably doesn't even look like that, let's be honest.)

Nezzer flinched, one pupil shrinking with the eye squinting from the pain while he bit his lip to hold back a yelp. "...ow," he squeaked.  
  


_ 'He's gonna be okay, yeah. He's strong.'  
_

"...you okay?"  
"...j--just peachy, Abby."  
  


_ 'I still feel kinda bad about it. But then, I've got some other issue happenin', little guy.'_

Abby fluffed the pillow behind Nezzer's back, inquiring, "Not too many of these sharp pains?"

Nezzer made a tiny "oof" before he answered truthfully, "Besides just now? Not too many."  
  


"You were out of bed earlier, walking around in the room, right? Any problems?"  
"No, not really."

  
She tilted her head in thought, humming to herself.

_ 'I think...'_

"...Mister Nezzer, if we prescribe you something to help with the remaining back pains and follow our self-care guide...would you like to be out of here by tomorrow afternoon?"

_'I was scared about losing him? Like...what if he had died somehow.'_

Nezzer blinked widely. "Tomorrow?"

"That's right! I was checking out the x-ray we did of your back this morning, and it looks pretty good!" She nodded, smiling. "I think you should be alright enough to head back so you're not stuck eating hospital food for another two or three days."

To tell the truth, the food wasn't bad at all, but being stuck in the hospital wasn't fun. Heck, he was getting homesick, as sappy as it might have been considered for a lot. Nezzer couldn't help himself! He missed sleeping in his bed in his comfy pajamas. He wanted to hug and spoil his sweet baby bunnies. He missed being at home with Lunt.

_ '_ _Heh, you know, I told Larry it's because I'd have to move out and take you fellas with me. That's what would happen, but...'_

Nezzer fell silent for a second but then smiled back. "Sounds nice, actually."

_ 'I think Nezzer dying would kill me. My chest was hurtin' a couple of times while we sat in the waitin' room to hear how he was doing. Haven't felt like that in a long, long time.'_

Doctor Abby was now beaming. "Great! We'll double check everything tomorrow morning to be sure it's fine. Now remember," she warned, "just because we're letting you out, that doesn't mean to push yourself at home or anywhere else you need to be, or else you might have to rush back here..."

_'He's my friend, that's probably why, but, the two of us are pretty close. You see it, right?'_

He chuckled, his chest rumbling. "Got it, Doctor."

"Then again," she said out loud in consideration, "your body seems to be getting over that injury quicker than the other ones I've seen, so I kinda doubt you'd find yourself having to run back here for help. You're built like a bull!"

"..." he blinked upon hearing the last word. Nezzer felt his grin widen. "Funny you should call me that..."

_ '...I really care about that big fella. Like...a whole lot.'_

  
Lunt had the brim of his hat yanked down from embarrassment, his cheeks burning hot and red, and all that the bunny did was stare up at him with his head tilted to one side.

  
"...look...I know you're just a bunny 'n' all--"

Said bunny grunted--

"But, uh, if you and Nezzer can communicate with each other somehow, don't tell him I said that," he lifted his hat a bit to give the bunny a look, "got it, fluffy?"

Another grunt from the fluffy animal.

All of the sudden, his phone vibrated.

Lunt sat up a bit, brows quirking before he reached forward and retrieved his phone. There was a new message in a recently made group chat.

It was from Nezzer, and several people were responding so fast, Lunt had to scroll up the chat to see what was happening to his boss with the strange twist in his stomach.

"<<_The doctor just told me that I'll be able to leave the hospital tomorrow_,>>" Nezzer had typed out, ending it with a rabbit emoji at the end of his sentence.

Lunt's mouth gaped.

"...that was fast."  
  


All of the comments underneath Nezzer's announcement were those of relief and congratulations to him. Good grief, everybody must've been available to respond at the same time...the notes just kept flooding in!

He broke out into a grin.

"That's my boss. I knew that old man could get over it so quickly."

The grin weakened a bit as he re-read the message for the third or fourth time.

...that's his boss. And he thanked God his boss was doing better.

Lunt the Bunny fell asleep beside his non-bunny counterpart.


End file.
